St Paul Feast!!!/LOVE our Catholic Schools and homeschool!/"it's not bragging to say that we were always open to life." - +JMJ+

 

Me with my 4 girls in matchy jumpers and white blouses.  It might look like Catholic School uniforms, but not the case here in Marshall.  At this point I had 3 in the Catholic School, but there were no uniforms for our children there.  We tried and hoped that it could happen but never did.  

To this day there are still no uniforms, but we still love and are strong supporters of a Catholic education for our grandkids!  Ruth and Paul will have a total of 7 kids attending Holy Redeemer for 27 years!  Tom just turned 2, so he won't graduate 8th grade until 2036!  John will also have his 3 going there, and Lucy is a year younger than Tom and so she will graduate in 2037!  There could be others we are not now aware of... When you are open to life - we trust in the Lord's plan.

A gift that arrived in the mail today from our St Maximilian Kolbe kids - Nancy's children attending Catholic School in Delano!  So soft and cozy - my new kitty, Neumann, approves!  

I recently hesitated sharing my story of loss and family with a group I am in.  Hubby encouraged me to go ahead and share our story- "You are not bragging when you share that we were always open to life in our marriage."  

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Our marriage stories - "The world needs LIGHTS!"  

The Church in her wisdom points out to us that each marital sharing of love should be open to life!  To interfere with God's plan by using artificial birth control is using sex in a selfish manner and taking our family planning into our own hands.  Yes, we can use natural methods of postponing a baby, but when we are not preventing in other artificial ways - God is still in the picture.  

As a result of this in our marriage - I have tremendous peace knowing that the 12 children I was to have are all here - 5 with me on earth and 7 in heaven praying for our family and for me!  

School pictures that came in the mail from Nancy too!  The do have Catholic School Uniforms!  

Augustine is the oldest and is now in 6th grade.  He is a wonderful oldest brother and very protective and concerned about his family.  He is super loving towards his youngest sister, Regina Maria - Queen Mary!  

2nd oldest is Bernadette, who is in 5th grade.  She is a big help to mom and also is kind and loving to her baby sister!  Pat says that she is so beloved by all her older siblings - "Gina knows she is very loved!"  Yes, she has her mom and grandpa Pat's beautiful dimples!  

Dominic Patrick is 9 and in 3rd grade.  He loves to read and loves his Gina, too!  

Josephine Francis is in 2nd grade and will be receiving her First Communion this year!  She is so wonderful with  her younger cousins!  

4 year old George Blaze is 4 and one of the group of 3 boys in 6 weeks.  He is attending Preschool at St Max.

And here she is - Regina Maria, who just turned 2 a month ago - so beloved by her 5 older siblings!  Yes, so true of our children in their marriages as Pat also pointed out to me - "Our children are carrying forth being open to life in their marriages and raising LIGHTS for the world!"  Yes!  

John's family Christmas Card taken by our little red barn.  John now has 2 attending Preschool at Holy Redeemer here in Marshall.  Jude is 4 and like George is in Preschool at HRS/Holy Redeemer School.  And 3 year old Birdie Barbara is attending Catechesis of the Good Shepherd on Wednesdays.

John also has an after school job at Holy Redeemer - STARS.  He is a stay at home dad while Bobbi works from home.  John is on disability since his battle against brain cancer 15 years ago left him with left sided ataxia and memory loss.  "I am blessed with the ability to send my kids to Catholic school with the disability I receive.  The Lord is generous to us!"  

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: John's cancer stories  

John's Spirit Juice Video now his story continues with wife and 3 children!  

John burns to share his story of finding Faith through his battle with brain cancer 15 years ago! Much like St Paul today as we celebrate his conversion - John half-hearted prayer for Faith led to his seeing the beauty and Truth of Jesus, Mary and The Church.

'The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.  Acts 22 

So true of John as for St Paul - "Why did I survive and others didn't?  I am called to share my story of finding Faith in Jesus, Mary and The True Church!"  He is often up serving as reader of the Word, Eucharistic Minister, on the committee for Eucharistic Revival and any other way he can serve the Lord and fellow man.  Not only sharing his burning faith with words but also in actions!  He is a changed man and the new John!  

John would admit that Our Lady of Lourdes was huge in his falling in love with her and through her to her Son and His Bride, The Church!  

We went to France 3 times!  The first time was just days after his 2nd round of chemo!  He actually got better and within 24 hours we were on our way to France for his sister, Susan's taking her habit and changing her name to Little sister Hallel!  "When you say my name - you are giving God all the praise!" she reported.  The first part of "Hallelujah!"  

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Susan Angela Agnes/Little Sister Hallel - the story of a Call . 

My 21 charts from 28 years of charting for Natural Family planning.  I started to understand my cycle as I did not get pregnant right away as I had hoped.  The month I took my first course - I got pregnant and discovered my pregnancy while learning how to do pregnancy tests while joining Birthright!  I was 5 months pregnant on my first Anniversary!  

A rocky start at age 27- 30 with Ruth, a miscarriage, and Nancy.

Pat and I never abstained to postpone a pregnancy, so there were hard times with losses - 2 of them were boys lost at 5 months after John.  There is a tremendous amount of peace knowing that we had all our children and will meet them someday in heaven forever.  It keeps us on the narrow path stumbling as we drag our Most Cherished Cross!  

I had 2 losses between Susan and John plus lost my sister Mary to cancer at age 28!  

After losing 2 as a family after Susan - she was so protective of her baby brother!  She is responsible for saving his life as Pat backed out a tractor and Susan asked - "Where's John?"  We saw him walking into the shed and ran to save him!  

Forgot that I lost a tube when I was almost 48.  I charted until I was 55 and my periods stopped!  I spent many hours, prayers and tears over these charts!  

My daughters have all learned Natural Family planning - now called the Creighton Model Method.  Ruth learned it after rupturing her uterus having her 2nd child, Mary.  She also became an instructor!  She went on to have 5 more children after being told no more children.  The doctor giving her a second opinion - said that if she waited a year and then was watched closely she could have more children!  

A tracing I did 50 years ago when I was an RN at HCMC working with many alcoholics.  It speaks to much to me of the sad men cast away due to their addictions.  

I also found our wedding booklet from our wedding 45 years ago at The Basilica of St Mary in Downtown Minneapolis which was my home parish.  So beautiful!  My Father and mother had brought us into The Church 52 years ago - all 13 of us!  I fell head over heels in love with The Catholic Church - All of it!!!  I also fell hard for my farmer, Patrick Verly!

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: The amazing story of the 13 becoming Catholic!  

I knew we got married on a Thursday night but at 8:30p surprised me!  

 

Young and in love - I admit that I am 3 years older than Pat, but it never bothered him so I quickly got over it!  We dated for just 10 months after meeting at his sister, Marge's wedding!  

My parents walking me down the aisle - my dad had become a Permanent Deacon in The Church just a few years before and he married us as well as many of my siblings!  

Deacon Robert Cross, my dad, baptizing our oldest Ruth Ida in 1980

He also baptized our 5 children and did a graveside service for our 2 stillborn boys - William and Robert.  They are buried at the cemetery.  Just a short distance away is buried a 5 month loss of Nancy and Bill, Maximilian Bandzuch.  I prayed so hard that my girls would not have to experience the losses as I had, but... 

Lord and Lady, how I love you and thank you for all that we are blessed with in your glorious Church!  May I die to self so that I may love and serve without counting the cost.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 33 plus many Little sisters and Little brothers 

 ..for our gospel came to you not only in word,

but also in power and in the Holy Spirit

and with full conviction. - I Thes 1:5a

 

 "The single greatest need in the world today

is the practice of prayer

before the Blessed Sacrament. 

How can we say this? Logically!

We have seen that the conversion of our country

calls for an outpouring of marvelous power from God. 
Christ promised to move mountains

at the words of a person who believes.

We conclude: there is no greater profession of faith

than during prayer before the Holy Eucharist.

 

Why should prayer before

Christ in the Eucharist be so potent

in  obtaining miracles of conversion? Because

it is prayer that is animated by extraordinary faith. ...

There is no miracle too great, and no miracle

is greater than the conversion of sinners—

provided we believe.

 

That is why we can say

and say with complete security;

the single most powerful means on earth for the

conversion of America is for Catholic Americans

to mobilize a crusade of prayer before the

Eucharist for the conversion of our nation."

 

 From The Conversion of America

Through the Eucharist - 

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. (1998)

(Undoubtedly applicable to every nation! - Ed.)

 

FEAST* of the CONVERSION of ST PAUL

January 25

 

*This feast is at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical observance that began in 1908, which is an octave (eight day observance) spanning from January 18 (Confession of Peter) to January 25.

 

"Being converted is simply meeting yourself for the purpose of going to the very end of your being. Conversion means a willingness to see the truth of things and conform one's conduct to it" (A. Serillanges). In the Voice and the Light that Saul encounters on the road, he sees the truth of things and willingly conforms himself to Jesus Christ.  "That dear preacher Paul ... was a wolf, but he became a lamb, a gracious vessel of love - and the fire with which Christ filled his vessel he carried through the whole world" (St Catherine of Siena).  "It is clear that Paul wholly fled from himself and cast out all his own will, and that his will was active only in relation to Christ.  Since with Christ there was nothing undesirable or repugnant to his will, it follows that his was a wondrous pleasure which was always present and with which he always lived" (Nicholas Cabasilas). Excerpt from Magnificat, Vol 20, No 11, January 2019

 

"May the Lord help us to put into practice

the exhortation left to us by the Apostle in his letters:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." -

 

Pope Benedict XVI

(As noted in Magnificat, Vol 22, No 11, January 2021)

The Hillbilly Thomists - Dominican Monks! 

Salve Regina - Hail Holy Queen as sung by Hallel's Dominican order!